Jeffrey Wasson: 1948-2010

Barat, DePaul music professor

Jeffrey Wasson's scholarship covered an eclectic range of musical genres, from Gregorian chants to the early-20th-century work of American composer Charles Ives.

A music teacher at Barat College for 17 years and -- after that Lake Forest school closed -- at DePaul University, Mr. Wasson, 61, died of heart failure Monday, Jan. 4, at his home in Evanston, said his friend Sidney Friedman. He underwent a heart bypass operation 20 years ago and recently had been in failing health.

At DePaul, where Mr. Wasson was a music professor for the last eight years, he taught theory and history to music majors as well as music appreciation courses for students in other disciplines, said Kurt Westerberg, chairman of musicianship studies and composition.

Though music from the early Middle Ages and the Renaissance occupied much of his lessons, Mr. Wasson selected from a wide repertory to make his points, pulling out selections from rock and jazz as the situation warranted.

At Barat, he helped maintain an unusual 1940s-era chime machine that sat in the cupola of the school's Old Main building and was played at least once a day.

In addition to a vast library of music books, he had a harpsichord and a grand piano in his Evanston condominium. On Sundays, he was the organist at churches including St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Skokie. He also played in synagogues for the Jewish High Holidays, Friedman said.

Mr. Wasson's mother, Hilda Wasson, was head of DePaul's College of Commerce. She died in 2008. His father died shortly after his birth, and he grew up mostly in Morganfield, Ky.

His higher education was completed entirely at Northwestern University.

In addition to teaching, he annotated programs for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Ravinia Festival and was president of Ars Musica, a Chicago-based early-music ensemble.

Mr. Wasson leaves no immediate survivors.

A memorial service was set for 1 p.m. Saturday in Vail Chapel on the Northwestern campus, 1870 Sheridan Road, Evanston.